A New Hope
by spiralheads
Summary: Depressed young adult Laurel is used to running away from her problems. When she wakes up in a fictional universe filled with elfs, dwarfs, hobbits and wizards however, she must learn to deal with whatever comes her way. (probably a mary-sue and really unoriginal but i genuinely don't care)


**Okay so this is my very first attempt at writing a story. I am aware that this setting (girl falls into Middle-Earth) is very unoriginal and most of you are bored of it already but I genuinely like reading stories like this (and this is my own story so I can do what I want lmao).**

 **The story is a mixture of both the books and the movies.**

 **Please review even if it's just to tell me you've read it. Also note that English isn't my first language so I aplogize for any grammatical mistakes. I'm open to constructive criticism and would just like to hear feedback.**

 **Chapter One: The Lost Hero**

I was tired.

Have you ever been so impossibly exhausted that all you want to do is to curl up in bed with 15 blankets and 32 pillows and spend the rest of your life there? My entire body was threatening to shut down any second now and I much desired the comfort of my own home.

But it was my own fault.

I had spent the entire night fretting over the next day at Uni (where I would have to hold a presentation I had not yet prepared) before a much dreaded driving lesson would take place. If you know me, you also know there's nothing i hate more than public speaking and driving school.

As it was, my anxiety had prevented me from getting much sleep and I was now paying dearly for it.

Internally I cursed my parents for forcing me to get my license. If it weren't for them I wouldn't have had that extra pressure on me. It's not like I even want to drive a car. I get around just fine on my bike and the train. I might have even gotten some sleep if I didn't have to worry about being humiliated by the driving instructor again. Of course, knowing me, I might have still found something else to worry over,

It was moments like this where everything just became too much for me. I didn't want to experience the day, I just wanted to sleep. I was depressed and low-key suicidal and life was way too hard for me, I wished I could escape to a magical dreamland where I wouldn't have to worry about the future.

I was currently on the train to Uni. Initially I had hoped to use the long commute, to work on the presentation, but that seemed impossible now.

Taking my phone, I set an alarm for when my stop would be, before laying down, using my backpack as a pillow. There were few people on the train this early, so I had a four-seater for myself.

It felt like I had only just closed my eyes, when I was suddenly whisked awake again. It was only then that I realised the train wasn't moving anymore. Panic settled in and I sat up as fast as I could, blinking the sleep away. I couldn't afford to have missed my stop. I need to be at University on time. I was in trouble for having skipped so many classes, that one more miss would mean I wouldn't receive enough credits to graduate on time.

Looking around I came to a shocking realisation: I was lost. No longer was I on the train; the seats underneath me having been replaced by soft grass and moss. My backpack was still with me, though, which was a relief. In the distance I could hear footsteps, which was odd because I definitely couldn't see anyone through the thick trees that littered the space around me.

If you had just woken up in a strange and foreign land, absolutely disoriented, I bet you would have handled everything with grace. You would have made use of your pathfinder training or something and found a way out of the woods to the closest civilization. The people you'd have met would have instantly been charmed by your good looks and wit. You would have recognised the dangers of being a defenceless woman in a possibly dangerous environment. You would have acted reasonably.

But I was not reasonable. And so I screamed.

The footsteps, which I had heard earlier, were coming ever closer. Suddenly panic settled in. I didn't know what kind of people were walking up to me. They could be rapists or murderers or worse – econ majors. And like the moron I was I had just called their attention to myself.

My heart was thumping in my chest at four times the speed it usually does. I was sweating profusely and my mouth dried out instantly. I didn't want to actually die, I had to act. Quickly.

By now you should have realised that I was physically incapable of making logical decisions. As it was I had decided to deal with this problem, the way I dealt with every problem: by sleeping. Breathing in deeply, I laid down on the soft grass again, curled around my backpack, which I hugged to my chest, and squeezed my eyes shut.

I still hadn't ruled out that this was all a dream. Maybe if I simply fell asleep again, I would wake up in the train to Uni and hold my shitty presentation and drive the stupid car and continue on with my pathetic life.

Try as I might, sleep never took hold me of me and I could now hear numerous people walking up towards me and talking quietly. I couldn't make out what they were saying, they were too far away and my heart was beating way too loudly.

They were coming closer.

And closer.

Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't let them kill me, I prayed to whoever god was listening.

Suddenly I felt myself being poked with a stick and I immediately jerked back, involuntarily opening my eyes. Shit. Here goes trying to pretend like I was asleep. ... Or dead.

"Oi!", I cried out. "What was that? Who goes around poking people,"

There were four people standing above me. Three middle aged men and an older guy with long white hair and a long white beard. Funny, the way these guys were characters from the lord of the rings. Maybe there was a convention around somewhere. I felt my spirits liften. If these were simply nerds running around in costumes, they might be harmless. Maybe they could give me a lift to the nearest city so I could chalk this entire ordeal off to sleepwalking and the aftereffects of sleep deprivation.

All four of the men looked surprised to hear me speak so suddenly, when I was playing dead less than a minute ago. It was the Aragorn-look-alike who spoke first. "Apologies, my lady. We had heard a scream and came to investigate the area. When we saw you lying about we wanted to make sure you were-"

"Alive?", I lifted a brow and tried to discretely blow the strands of hair out of my face. "Nope. I was not dead. Simply trying to sleep. On the ground, In the middle of … whatever this is. Where exactly am I?"

This seemed to confuse all of them, for they stared at me like I had grown antlers. "You mean you do not know?"

"Uhm no. One second I was on my way to school, the next I woke up here, alone."

"And you have no explanation for this?", the old guy inquired.

"Unless I am imagining all of this, then no. No I don't have an explanation for this.", I snapped, running a hand through my hair. This was irritating and frustrating and I simply wanted to go home. I wonder how much time had passed. The sky was still pretty light, so I guessed I wasn't gone for long. My mother might still be worried about me.

And then it hit me. I hadn't even thought to check my phone. Frantically patting down my jeans pockets however, I came to the conclusion that it must have gotten lost somehow. Great. I was close to crying now.

When I looked back at the cosplayers I found they were all staring at my head.

"Oh, no! Is there a spider on my head?"

That seemed to shake them out of their daze. "What?"

"You were all staring at my head. I'm assuming there's an insect on me somewhere?", I grimaced. I could not deal with that.

"Your ears. You're an elleth?", it was the first time the Legolas-look-alike had spoken. Man, for nerdy cosplayers these guys sure were attractive. And their outfits looked really realistic. They must have spent hours working on them.

Wait. What did he just say.

"No, I'm not-", I started, incredulous, but when my hands came up to feel my ears, they weren't the same as before. No, my ears were now pointy. "What the-"

This wasn't possible. It just wasn't. These ears felt _real,_ otherwise I might have tried accusing the fellowship-rip-off-troup of sneaking up on me and putting silicone ears on me. Maybe they drugged and kidnapped me and set me off into the woods so they could pretend to save me and make me travel with them. But, no, these ears were definitely real.

My eyes wide as saucers, met those of the Boromir-cosplayer, the only one in the group who hadn't spoken yet. He looked just as surprised as I felt. He didn't look like an actor, pretending to be shocked at the revelation of me having elven ears. I felt tears start to form in my eyes, "Who are you guys?", my voice came out as merely a whisper, but they seemed to have heard me just fine.

"My name is Gandalf the Grey.", the old man said, looking straight into my eyes. And for some reason or another, I believed him.

"Laurel." I blinked the tears away. "I'm Laurel Elizabeth Stone.

And I think I'm lost."


End file.
